Cleaning device



Nov. 18, 1958 M. M. MOODY CLEANING DEVICE Fi1ed` Jan. 6, 1955 CLEANINGDEVICE Meredith M. Moody, East Orange, N. J.

Application January 6, 1955, Serial No. 480,213

6 Claims. (Cl. 15-223) This invention relates to dust mops and moreparticularly to a combination floor sweeper and duster utilizing as thecleaning element a disposable pad.

Cleaning or dusting devices having disposable cleaning elements areknown in the art. However, such prior devices are of rather complexconstruction and, more importantly, the cleaning elements of the priordevices are of such character that the devices function solely asdusters and not as sweepers. A device made in accordance with myinvention includes a disposable member so formed that it may be used asa combination broom and duster.

An object of this invention is the provision of a combinationbroom-duster consisting of -a semi-rigid pad removably attached to ahandle said pad being made of three layers of brematerial, the outer twolayers being soft and pliable for purposes of dustingand the inner layerbeing of a iiexible but firm character for purposes of providing abroomlike sweeping action.

An object of this invention is the provision of.v a combinationsweeper-duster comprisinga handle having an expanded supporting head atone end and a disposable cleaning element receivable by the head, saidelement being made of a soft fibrous pad enclosing a flexible but rminner member.

An object of this invention is the provision of a combinationsweeper-duster comprising a handle, a flared, clamping member carried onone end of the handle, snap means operable to close the jaws of theclamping member, and a cleaning element clamped by the said jaws whenthe latter are in closed position, said cleaning element consisting ofan outer layer of pliable fibre material carried by an inner pad of rmbut flexible fibre material.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description when taken with the accompanyingdrawings. It will be understood, however, that the drawings are forpurposes of illustration and are not to be construed as defining thescope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latterpurpose to the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts inthe several views:

Figure 1 is a front view of a cleaning element made in accordance withmy invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of such element;

Figure 3 is a front view of the complete sweeperduster;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is similar to Figure 4 but showing the jaws of the clampinghead in the open position.

Reference is now made to Figures 1 and 2. The cleaning element comprisesa silicone-impregnated pad composed of matted or felted bres, natural orsynthetic. The inner member is of T form, in cross section, and thelibres thereof are compressed to a degree such that this member issemi-rigid, that is, this member has an ited States Patent O 2,860,361Patented Nov. 18, 1958 ICC inherent iirmness suicient to normally retainits original, straight form yet will flex in response to a suitablelateral pressure. Thus, when the pad is attached to a handle, the leg ofthe Tmember is thickened by the soft outer layers to form an elementgenerally rectangular in section, as illustrated in Figure 2. The headof the T facilitates the proper placing of the rectangular layers 11 and11 with respect to the inner member. After assembly the inner,flexible-firm member 10 affords a sweeping action whereas the soft outerlayers 11, 11 serve for gathering dust, as will become more apparenthereinbelow.

Referring now to Figures 3-5, the clamping head 12 is provided with aninternally-threaded shank 13 for attachment to a conventional handle 14.The head, preferably made of a suitable plastic material, comprises asubstantially llat, triangular-shaped back 15 having an inturned end 16and integral, transverse ribs 17, 18. The front of the clamping head isof corresponding form and includes the upper portion 19 and a front 20that is secured to the upper portion by a hinge 21. It will be notedthat the front has an inturned end 22 and the internal, transverse ribs23, 24, said parts matching the similar parts on the back 15. Theinturned ends 16 and 22 and the matching ribs 17 and 23, respectivelydefine the upper and lower ends of a pocket which snugly receives thestilfened or enlarged edge portion or head of the T-form member 10, withthe ends 16 and 22 gripping the upper end portions of the soft outerlayers and holding them against the leg portion of the member 10, withtheir upper edges abutting the lower surface of its head.

The hinged front 20 also is provided with a pair of inwardly-directeddepressions 25 having holes 26 formed therein. These holes have adiameter slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the buttons 27 orheads t thereof that extend forwardly from the back 15. These buttonsindividually cooperate with the depressions 25 to form as the plasticmaterial deforms, a snap-action fastener to hold the jaws 176 and 22 inthe closed position as illustrated in Figure 4. It may here be pointedout that a slight clearance space is provided between the aligned ribs17 and 23 thereby assuring the passage of the button heads through theassociated holes 26 when the front 20 is snapped into the closedposition. Also, the internal area dened by these ribs and thecooperating jaws 16 and 22 is such that when the cleaning pad is clampedin position the upper portion of the pad member 10 is under compression.This exerts a small amount of pressure to maintain the depressions 25against the under sides of the associated button heads whereby thehinged front 20 is retained in a firm, non-rattling position.

The degree of stiffness inherent in the inner pad member 10 in such thatwhen the device is in normal use the cleaning pad as a Whole remainsstraight, as illustrated in Figure 4, whereby the device may be used forsweeping, as a broom. However, as distinguished from the simple sweepingaction of a broom, the soft, siliconeirnpregnated outer layers of thepad gather and retain the dust simultaneously with the sweeping action.Also, when my device is used to clean under furniture, etc., the merepassage of the side of one of the soft outer layers 11, 11', of the padover the oor gathers up any dust in a far more effective manner than aconventional dust mop. In short, my device serves as a combinationsweeper-duster. After use, the disposable pad is ejected simply byapplying thumb pressure to the snap buttons and thus the pad may bedropped directly into a household trash container without messyhandling.

The use of the silicone-impregnated pad reduces the health hazard andnuisance of air borne dust particles as raised in the process ofsweeping with ordinary brooms. For persons with house-dust allergy thechronic hazard of inhaled dust particles is eliminated. The combinedsweeping-dusting actionV of the device eliminates the repeat-work ofhaving to go back over a swept floor with a dust mop to complete the oorcleaning operation.

Further," the disposable pad component eliminate'svthe While I haveillustrated a preferred construction ofmy novel sweeper-dusterdevicethose skilled in this art will nd no diiculty in making certainchanges and modifications. For example, any means may -be utilized tosecure the jaws of the head in the closed position while yetfacilitating the opening therefor for disposal of the used pad. So too,the specific construction of the cleaning pad may be made consistentwith modern production procedures directed toward reducing the costthereof to a minimum. These and other changes and modifications may bemade without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention as setforth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A combination sweeper-duster comprising a supporting head consistingof spaced front and back portions of plastic material terminating inaninternally-threadedY shank, a front member pivotally securedY to thefront portion, inturned ends on the back portion and front member, saidends when the head is closed being aligned to constitute clamping jaws,aligned transverse ribs extending inwardly from the said backportionfand said front member at a point spaced from the inturnedV end sand cooperating with said inturned ends to define a pocket for receivinga stifened edge portion of a clean ing pad, a pair of depressed portionsformed inthe front member, each depressed portion having aV hole formedtherethrough, a pair of buttons, the heads of which extend from the saidback portion, and are aligned with said holes, said heads having maximumdiameters slightly greater than the diameter of the holes, wherebytheplastic material will deform and allow said heads to snap through theholes and lie in said depressed portions when the front mmeber ispressed toward the said back portion, and a cleaning pad clamped bysaidjaws and with a stiffened edge portion received in said pocket, whenthe said heads are snapped through the said holes.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the stilened edgeportion of said pad is on a semi-rigid inner member giving it a T-shapein cross-section, and there are outer layers of soft, pliable materialon the leg of said inner member.

3. The invention recited in claim 2, wherein the pad is made ofsilicone-impregnated iibres.

4. A combination sweeper-duster comprising a vsupporting memberincluding a pair of relatively movable jaw elements of plastic material,said supporting member comprising a back member terminating in an olsetend that forms one jaw element, a front member hinged for pivotedmovement relative to the back member and having an offset end that formsanother jaw element, said front andback members having registeringpockets; a brouspad with a stitened edge portion secured to thesupporting member by having said stiffened edge` portion gripped in saidpockets when the said jaw elements are in the closed position; and meansfastening the front member in a lixed position relative to the backmember comprising a depression formed in the front member and having ahole therethrough, and a button extending from the back member andinsertable through said hole for reception of its head in saiddepression, said head having a'maximum diameter slightlylarger*than'thediame'terof the hole. I

5. A three-layer disposable cleaning pad comprising a generallyrectangular inner layer `of brous material of semi-rigid character,making the pad serviceable as a sweeper by using an edge thereof, thesaid inner layer having a T-shaped cross section, and outer layers offibrous material of soft yieldable character suitable for dusting when asideA of said pad is used, the said outer layers being disposed onopposite sides of the leg and substantially filling theangles -betweensaid leg and the head forming the T of the inner layer, to produce aVpad subshtanially rectangular in cross-section transverse to said ea76.* T he invention as recited in claim 5, wherein the outer layers areimpregnated with a silicone compound.

Referencesl Qited: in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSOTHER"- REFERENCES Properties nd .s'esof.Silicones (A. I. Barry),Reprint from Tappi, vol. 36, No. 6, June 1953.

